A third suspect was taken into custody in Austria last Friday in relation to an alleged terrorist scheme aimed at a Taylor Swift performance, inciting warnings from Islamic specialists in Vienna about a budding generation of adolescent extremists making use of the TikTok platform. On Thursday evening, the Viennese law enforcement confirmed the detention of an 18-year-old Iraqi refugee, although he is not purported to hold any knowledge of the intended bombing operation in Austria’s capital city. Nevertheless, Austrian Interior Minister, Gerhard Karner, disclosed that the young man swore allegiance to the Islamic State on the 6th of August and maintained connections with the central suspect.
Preparations for the expulsion of the minor are afoot, stated Minister Karner. This leaves the Austrian prosecutors with a slim suspect pool of two main individuals, along with multiple unresolved inquiries relating to a potential Islamic radical circle operating within the Vienna vicinity.
The primary suspect, a 19-year-old from Austria with North Macedonian familial links, was apprehended in his residential place in Ternitz, situated 70km southwest of the capital on Wednesday morning. He pledged loyalty to the Islamic State (IS) last month and has unequivocally admitted to his bombing plot. Instituting charges of criminal organization affiliation and terroristic cooperation against him, he is provisionally incarcerated in Vienna’s central lockup.
The same charges face a 17-year-old acquaintance, holding Austrian nationality albeit of North Macedonian lineage. He was arrested Wednesday afternoon in proximity to the concert site, where it is alleged he was employed with a service company.
This 17-year-old has negated any awareness of the plotted onslaught and refused to respond to the law enforcers’ enquiries. “These charges are nonsensical,” asserted Nikolaus Rast, the defence counsel for the 17-year-old. “My client has not pledged any loyalty to the IS, made no hostile internet posts; he is merely an associate of the other man – that’s the entire story.”
The authorities, however, are suspicious of the minor’s involvement in a radical Islamic faction, citing his frequent attendance of an extremist-associated Vienna mosque.
The assembly included individuals such as a man who orchestrated an assault on Vienna’s main station and one who fatally shot four individuals in the heart of Vienna in November 2020. Vienna’s local government has indefinitely shut down the mosque attributing the closure to the radical sermons of the chief cleric.
Nevertheless, specialists in terrorism argue that such structures are becoming less relevant for younger generations who are more inclined towards social media and well-known web-based religious leaders. The recent arrests in Austria and Germany of suspects on charges of Islamism show that a new wave of young people are becoming radicalised via digital platforms, experts contend.
Professor Peter Neumann, an Austrian authority on terrorism, maintains that the Chinese-owned application TikTok is as beneficial for Islamist clerics as it is for pop idols. “TikTok is essentially run by algorithms,” explained Prof Neumann, “which means that if someone shows interest in something linked to Islamism, they are likely to see more related content.”
According to him, TikTok and app Telegram are especially popular among coordinators within the Islamic State, aiding the radical group in rebounding from its downturn in influence and visibility over the past five years. Prof Neumann noted a sharp rise in planned and actual attacks over the past 10 months, a fourfold increase compared to 2022, necessitating serious attention.
Austrian premier Karl Nehammer confirmed that a potential bombing was prevented owing to two distinct leads received by Austrian military intelligence from cooperating agencies within a period of 10-14 days. He said that due to the nebulous nature of these alerts, they required time to look into. “I am extremely pleased that we managed to acquire and act on this intelligence,” he added.